And then these guys, Die Antwoord, Afrikaans for ‘The Answer’, rapping in what they call ‘Zef’ (think: white trash). The songs are incredible, and this was another concert I messed that just came through Houston. Heard it was incredible and just plain weird. It was a Monday night, why do they always do the awesome concerts on Mondays? (Electric Six played that same week on a Wednesday, I regretfully missed both).

After many months of trying to figure out how to fix WordPress to allow uploads greater than 8 megabytes, I’ve given up and decided to just link directly to my content folder. So, here are a lot of songs I’ve been meaning to get up here, but I have had issues with uploading:

Also, I was supposed to go to Stars here in Houston last night. Never made it there, worked late and was beat. Anyone else make it there? I thought it was weird that at the last moment they switched venues from Warehouse Live to Fitzgeralds. I had to call the music editor at work, to confirm this, and at that point had already decided I was totally over going. I’d love to see videos or hear about the concert from anyone that went!

Well, that’s about all I have the tolerance for. You’ve got some XX, Kelly Rowland, Diplo, Tupac and Gucci Mane to keep you going until I post again. I promise, I really do try to get on here and add content, just wordpress is the biggest mindfuck ever. To do the simplest tasks, takes 15 of the most complicated maneuvers repeated four times in four different spots, and then it sometimes works. Anyways, I think I have fixed what I needed to fix, so here’s to more content!

As some of you may or may not know, I work for the Houston Press, here in Houston, TX. It’s a fun place to work and I get to go to all sorts of incredible concerts and etc. The reason I am offering this information is, The Houston Press has rolled out a new website; ‘Houston Press – Deal of the Day’ and they’re trying to get it off the ground. It’s similar to Groupon, in that it’s gift certificates for services within Houston at discounted rates. We’re trying to get a good following and I figured I’d invite you all to help out. The Houston Press Deal of the Day has had some pretty amazing offers in the past, Kolache Factory comes to mind..

You can find more about this program, past offers, how to sign up, etc, by following the link below:

So, I encourage you all to check it out. If you’re not from Houston, don’t worry, Village Voice Media, our parent company is in the works to roll this out to our other markets. So I’ll add those links as they come around.

Look at the date. I guess it’ll be hundred years from today before we see such symmetry. Anyways, I keep running into this song on Hype Machine, and I have to say I love it! Gucci Mane with ATB, mixed by Diplo. What’s not to love!

Saw LCD Soundsystem and Sleigh Bells last night at the Houston Verizon Center Ampitheater. James Murphy was incredible, as well as the six others who helped with the set (one of them being a member from Hot Chip). Mr. LCD Soundsystem started to lose his voice the second song in, he told us so, and played ‘Losing my Edge’ to the crowd’s delight there after.

The set went on for nearly two hours, and although the light show was not nearly as incredible as Crystal Castle’s (at House of Blues Houston) back in September, it was still pretty awesome!

Sleigh Bells opened for LCD and it was just a half hour of poorly managed noise. Disappointing, because I really wanted to see them and have loved their album. Unfortunately, they have a lot to work towards..

A very exciting show at House of Blues Houston. Although on a Monday night, and more than 90 minutes late on getting on stage, of what I saw, was incredible. Like I said it was a Monday, and I have to work, so I only stayed for 40 minutes, but hear they played for nearly 2.5 hours!

Crystal Castles went straight into it. No talking or opening to the audience, just full on bass and treble, with an absolutely blinding and hypnotic light show. The sound and light was incredible. Their light show is by far the best one I have seen to date. Huge stacks of LED’s that alternate and strobe to the music, with a backdrop of Alice that appears to be coming towards you as the lights change. Purely incredible!

I can’t believe the summer is nearly over! Well at least, if you define the summer being over at Labor Day. I have a strong suspicion it’s going to continue to be hot for a few more months. So, I’ll just go with everyone else and say I’m sorry to see summer end. I mean, it’s not like summer is what it used to be. Where you didn’t have a single thing to do for 90 days and you can smoke pot, drink beer and stay up to all hours of the nights. I mean I haven’t had a summer like that for near a decade, so it’s just another season where I still have to wear dress clothes, but be even hotter in them..

Anyways.

We’ve been down in Texas, going on, three months, and I figured I should create a compilation of the photos I have taken that I found humorous. So here it goes, a brief history is in the time (so far) we’ve (Lesleh and I) spent in Texas;

Texas Welcome Sign.

After a very long drive down, (which you can read more about here) , we were ready to be out of the car and start our new lives in Texas.

But first we had to find jobs and one of the job fairs we attended was in Austin. Where I found that nearly anything can be made into the shape of Texas!

A McDonald's sink in the men's room, right outside Austin, TX.

Also, look what we had for breakfast! (I know it is backwards, the waffle iron was acting up!)

Taken in Austin, TX.

Chelada - When you have a thrist for that Bud Light, Heinz Ketchup and Pledge cleaner you can't find anywhere else! Or to make it easier to explain, it's like losing Kings (the cardgame) without actually having to play Kings!

Ironic Photos

Keep Texas Green Bags.. Where you can keep trash you're waiting to throw out your window on the highway!

Learn to Recycle, because you won't be able to do it, anywhere in Texas..

Random Photos
This is the part where I get bored with dicking around with HTML and WordPress. I also have these great ideas of posts, but once I start getting them together, they become so tedious. . So here are the rest of the photos;

Apparently this gets a lot of national attention. It's pretty interesting, but not worth a trip to Houston solely to see it... I mean if the frame and roof where constructed from beer cans, maybe. But, really it's just a bunch of flattened beers cans stapled to a house.. Don't believe the hype!

Another view, and I just thought of a lame name for it.. Ready?.. You are probably not, since it is super lame, but... Beer Car House-ton.. Get it? It is a play on words with Houston and House...

Who took this photo? It looks like two heavily make-upped white girls with the clothing you buy at the border in Tijuana. I mean this was in Houston, they could not find two real latinas? All you would need to do is call for lawn service, the laundromat or even look for a beat up Toyota with a cardboard license plate stating Lost/Stolen, reported on the highway..

You know where I will be on August 27th.. This place also has Cougar Night. Yes, that kind of cougar, the one that your mom probably turns into after Murder She Wroteis over..

I mean I studied in South Korea and spent ten days in Tokyo and ate sushi in some weird places. But a gas station, I think I'll hold out and gorge myself on some fresh Lousiana 'oil' shrimp instead.

To be fair, this Wendy's is right across from NASA. But even with that explanation, this still is sort of mind boggling..

OK, that’s all I have for now. I’ve seen lot’s of other things to take photo’s of, but have been unable because I don’t want to get beaten up or it’s just to hard to take a photo with an iPhone while driving (although I definitely try!)

Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights were incredible. I had never heard of them, but I was very impressed with them. They are based out of Dallas and they very much look the part of a jam/ indie alt 70’s band! I actually got to speak with one of the band members, Emotion Jones, and she was incredibly accommodating and informative. If these guys are playing near you, you should definitely check them out!

The headliners, of course, were Matt and Kim and they were incredible! Kim came onto the stage with a smile and 45+ minutes later when their set was over, I don’t think that her smile left once! They had a ton of energy and really got the crowd involved (see below for the Bizmarkee “Just a Friend” sing-a-long). Well worth the long day in the heat for such a fantastic and thoroughly impressive live show! Not only did they hype the fans by throwing balloons out into the crowd to go along with their set, but they took the time after the show to hop the fence and do an impromptu ‘meet and greet’!

So a buddy from college recently did a standup routine up in Baltimore at Magooby’s and it is remarkably very funny. I mean I know the guy, and he’s never been THAT funny. But, I am very impressed with his bit. It’s cleaver and intelligent, yet goofy and nerdy.

Stopping in quickly. Starting to really get into my new job and I really like Houston. It’s nothing like DC, which can be good. A few ways we have gone about making Texas just a little bit more green;

-We haven’t been able to recycle for the last two months, we found a place right by our new place. So that has made me feel better.

-The power companies are completely deregulated, which makes it a bit more expensive then up north. However, we are now use 100% renewable energy.

– We have always used reusable grocery bags, but it seems to be rare here. I hope as more people see us use them, others will pick it up.

– We avoid all the places with styrofoam down here (which is nearly everywhere) when we do eat fast-food (admittedly, this is mostly me. Sorry guys..)

– We both have cars that get very good gas mileage. My 2011 Elantra Touring gets 26mpg combined (city/ highway) and Lesleh’s 2004 Chevy Malibu gets about the same. I wish we could use more public transportation, but it is limited where we live 🙁

– Our thermostat is set at 76 degrees. The highest we can set it. We use the ceiling fans when we’re in the room, and circulation fans to keep our place evenly cooled. Additionally, we close vents in the spare room we rarely use and keep the door closed. Also keeping closet doors and other unused spaces will reduce your cooling demand.

– We have new kitchen appliances and use environmentally friendly light bulbs. We use drying racks to dry clothes rather than running the cloths dryer any more than we need to!

– Also another huge energy saver, unplug appliances and electronics you’re not using. This had an added benefit here too. With all the thunder storms you don’t want all of your electronics constantly plugged in, not only does this drain power, it also exposes them to the risk of a power surge. We have split our electronics into two power surge strips. One for the daily things we use; TV, Cable Box, Etc. The second for occasionally used items; Xbox, Wii, DVD player, sound system, etc. We leave the second strip off, and only turn those electronics on when we need to use them. Having them all connected to one strip makes power them up very easy, with no need to unplug!

So, even in a state as red as Texas, in the energy-wasting capital of Houston. We are able to keep some of our northern lifestyle in tact and keep more ethical and moral obligations to this earth!

Just a quick post. It’s been a busy week. Started the new job a few days ago. It’s been exciting and I’m learning a lot. We moved in fully last week, I started work Wednesday and then I bought a new car Friday. Saturday we showed the in-laws our new place and then Sunday I unpacked all day.

Looks like the misses will be in Lubbock for a few days this week, so I’ll have some down time to get some more stuff done around the house (the way I want to get it done..)

So I’ve been in Houston just under 2 months and I went on a few interviews like I had mentioned in a previous post. Well, I was offered a position with the Houston Press! And I have to say I am extremely excited about the position and the company. I started Wednesday (yesterday) and I am a retail staff accountant, which will continue to expand my skill set. More excitingly the Houston Press has a lot of promotions with bands and events are planned, etc. It’s a lot of great exposure to local venues and music!

The next event coming up is 2010 Houston Press – Music Award, with Matt and Kim as headliners. So I thought I’d post a Matt and Kim track to prepare you and get hyped up (with more to come)! The event is on August 7th and entrance is only $15 if you prepay ($20 at the door).

In addition to Matt and Kim, 60 other bands on 11 stages will be playing, so it’s going to be a full day of great music! Admittedly, I haven’t heard of many of the bands, since I am new to the area, but with 60+ bands I’m sure there are a few that will be worth listening too. Lineup

Anyways, I encourage you to check it out and if you’re in the Houston area and free that Saturday, why not come out and enjoy the music?!

Man, I thought being unemployed I would have all sorts of time to keep this updated. However, any moment I am awake I am either applying for jobs or feeling guilty that I am not applying for jobs. I’ve literally applied to 500+ positions and to make matters more depressing, my girlfriend got a teaching position in a little less than three weeks being down here. She actually got two offers and had to weigh the options.

Instead, I’ve been on several interviews. One at a company I absolutely do not want to work for. Another for a pretty cool alternative paper and the the third from a subcontractor. No offers to date. I’ve also had various emails and such. Some of the recruiters/headhunters down here are terribly organized. The same lady from a recruiting office has contacted me twice and we have coordinated a meeting and then she cancels last minute.

I mean just to get to the point of getting an automatic email rejection, you have to give up so much information it is unsettling. I half think, most of the jobs I have applied for aren’t real, but rather a way to collect all of my personal information (name, address, phone number, work history and pay, etc). I have noticed an increase in the spam email and calls I get. My phone is on the do-not-call list, yet I get all of these spammy phonecalls and voicemails. It’s infuriating.

Anyways, I searched out a few fun tracks to help you get through the Fourth!

So we were just in Austin on Wednesday and Thursday for a career fair for my girlfriend. And it got me thinking about Austin’s live music scene. While we were there I looked into a show and saw that Mumford & Sons was playing. However, the tickets that were originally $12 at the box office were now selling for $70 a piece on craigslist. That upsets me. Obviously, the market will bare what it can bare.

However, if tickets are worth $70 and the band sells them for $12 maybe it was the band being cool trying to allow everyone to enjoy their music. Whereas, $58 was going to some scalpers pocket and not benefiting the band or the venue. I think that’s a bunch of bullshit and people who do this shit are assholes.

Anyways, the whole Austin thing got me thinking about South by Southwest, which is in March each year and we plan to attend next year. I started searching my drive for music from years past and it seems a lot of really good local music was brewing in 2007. So I decided to “re-introduce” some bands that may or not have become big by now but were surely unheard of in 2007.

Additionally we got to see a lot of things that are Texas shaped, that really, well shouldn’t be. Having lived in Maryland and DC most of my life I’ve seen the odd postcard or fridge magnet in the shape of the respective place it was from. However, I have never seen a Maryland shaped waffle:

And if that isn’t enough, in the very same day as eating a Texas shaped waffle we stopped at a McDonald’s (we were in the middle of nowhere starving) and it had Texas shaped sinks!

So, at this point I’m close to being able to say I really have seen it all…

So I’ve been applying for jobs like crazy and of course have iTunes on shuffle and I’ve discovered quite a few gems I had forgotten about. So I’m going to make a small list of some of the tunes form summer’s past!

Well, that’s about all I feel like uploading for now! Also if you’re unemployed, I’ve started to put together a directory of ‘careers section’ landing pages! I’m based in Houston now, so my search is geared towards Houston, Austin and San Antonio. So most of the landing pages are in reference to those cities. However, it could be a good starting point if you’ve been recently laid off or don’t know where to even start! The link is below…

Additionally, if you have suggestions or a link needs to be added/updated (I go through them about once a day) send an email to me. Please be sure to include a working link and the company name. Thank you!

So, I’ve noticed one of the top searches that is getting people to DowntroddenInDC through Google is “Matthew Dear”. I figure I could indulge you all a little bit more. It also helps I’m unemployed now and the the weather is awfully dreary here in North Houston. So I’ve scoured the web looking for some fun tracks and hope you’ll enjoy them!

So an incredible CD just came out and best of all, it’s free! Major Lazer (Diplo and Switch) working with La Roux’s title album and has been totally redone into a reggae-tone dance-hall album that is called Lazerproof. It’s very funky and very well produced!

Ok, so I know I am lame for posting a Kid Cudi song after trashing him so much, but I love LCD Soundsystem so much, and the song really does work. I think, from the popularity of LCD Soundsystem’s new album and how James Murphy has practically blown up, with his face plastered all over Billboard, I think I am going to do just an LCD Soundsystem related post! Here it is:

It has been a crazy two weeks. We moved out of our place in Cleveland Park in the District, and moved in temporarily with my parents in northern Maryland (think nearly PA) while still commuting south to the city. It was brutal getting up pre-dawn to catch a 6:15 train in. I gave up on that after a few days and decided driving couldn’t be any worse, well it was!

The drive took consistently 90 minutes each way, everyday! Well now, that is over, we are in Houston. Jobless and living with my future in-laws (just about where every man wants to be!) I’m looking for contacts in Houston, San Antonio and Austin, so if you know of any drop me a line!

The drive down was pretty exciting. I’ve only ever really lived in Washington/Maryland, with the occasional long summer breaks in Florida or West Virginia with my grandparents. Although, I guess the only thing more foreign to me than Texas would be a summer study abroad in Seoul, ROK. Seems everyone in Houston hunts and wanted to impart hunting advise even if unsolicited to everyone they meet. I’ll to post some more of the oddities that is Houston and more broadly Texas.

For the trip, we rented a huge Penske truck and I have to say it went pretty well. I’m still collecting our receipts to tally what gas cost us, however I’d guesstimate it would be close to 12 miles to the gallon and close to $380 total. Which really wasn’t bad considering we had a 16 foot box truck hauling a Chevy Malibu (dual axle trailer). Gas ranged from $2.31 to $2.90 a gallon the way down, the most expensive in Maryland and the cheapest in Mississippi. However, the prices could fluctuate nearly a quarter just going an exit or two down the road.

It took us just under 26 hours, with a stop in Meridian, MS for the night (I slept with my clothes on, on top of the covers for fear of a bedbug infestation!) We packed sandwiches and drinks in a cooler and kept going. I have a sweet left arm tan to sport for the next week or so!

Aside from a near robbing in Greenville, TN, the whole trip was awesome!

Long story short, a very scuzzy guy came to our window (which were rolled down) after I had started to put cash away after paying for gas. He was insistent that we backup (which would have been impossible with the huge truck and trailer) so we could, and this is where the details he provided got fuzzy, see a guy who had just won the lottery had cash stripped to his body and pictures were being taken. Not sure why we would care about a guy who won the lottery, or who would have ever backed up into a less public area after hearing this story from this guy, but I told him I needed to pull around and then just drove right out of the place. It was totally bizarre.

Ironically, Greenville, TN is where Davy Crocket was born. I’m not sure if he would approve of this situation, but the theft of other’s property would certainly resonate with him, considering that whole Alamo/Mexico thing.

I also had to wrangle cats out from under our truck after stopping to get gas in Meridian, MS. Apparently, a car the night before from Arkansas had stopped for gas and two kittens had hitched a ride in the hood of their car. The kittens jumped out scared, hungry, hurt and lost. The one kitten’s tail was three-fourths missing and was extremly burned. The cats had been at the gas station since, with the gas attendants circled around them trying to figure out what to do. I did my part by buying milk and putting it in a bowl for them to eat. They didn’t drink any, but went straight for our truck, the hood more precisely. That’s when my cat wrangling skills came into play. I had to wash my hands thoroughly and am still not convinced I have not contracted feline HIV or leukemia or what ever it is feral cats carry.

I’m sure I looked totally insane, but I got them away from the car and we got back on the road.

I think those are the two most interesting points of the trip. Anyways, I’m sure you’re mostly here for music, so here’s a few tracks:

I’ve been super busy with the move and such. I will have to update the blog once we’re settled in Houston, which we leave 5-23 for. Anyways, here’s an older song that every time I hear makes me smile. Hope all is well!

I’ve noticed I’ve gained a few extra visitors. I submitted my site to stumbleupon ages ago and saw a few people here and there, but not really more than a few people a week. Well, out of nowhere I’m getting 100+ visitors a day. No idea how that works, but it’s nice to see people checking out the site!

We’re moving this week, so I won’t have permanent internet and access to post again for a week or so. We’re headed to stay with my parents for three weeks, before the long haul down to H-Town (Houston). Been applying for jobs like crazy, however my girlfriend has passed her exams to become a teacher anywhere in Texas. So I feel a bit better about the move, knowing at least one of us will be able to eat…